PO-080 Prevalence of human papilloma virus and its phylogenetic analysis in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma in pakistan

Introduction HNSCCs are characterised by distinct phenotypic, aetiological, biological and clinical heterogeneity. It is a heterogeneous disease that can be roughly divided into human papillomavirus (HPV) positive and negative. HPV is a recently identified causative agent for a subset of head and neck cancers, primarily in the oropharynx but very little is known about the prevalence of specific HPV types in Pakistan. Material and methods This cross sectional study was carried out in the Department of Immunology, University of Health Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan after approval from the Ethical Review Committee and Advanced Studies and Research Board, UHS Lahore. After an informed consent, tissue sections from a total of 72 patients with HNSCC were collected. The diagnosis of HNSCC was confirmed again on H and E staining and DNA was extracted from formalin fixed paraffin embedded tissue sections using DNA extraction kit. For the detection of HPV DNA, two universal primer sets GP5/GP6 and MY9/MY11 were used in the polymerase chain reaction. The samples, found to be positive for HPV on PCR, were sequenced for the phylogenetic analysis of HPV. Results and discussions Among 72 cases of HNSCC, only 5 (14.4%) cases were found to be positive for HPV by using universal primers sets. The prevalence of HPV in HNSCC in many international studies from Europe and USA have documented a prevalence of 5%–50% in HNSCC cases. After confirming the presence of HPV in HNSCC cases, positive DNA samples have been transported to a well-known international laboratory for gene sequencing and molecular diagnosis. As soon as possible, we will receive the sequencing data, we will sketch a phylogenetic tree and further subtyping of HPV and the further results will be presented. Conclusion The findings of current study will be helpful in launching public health awareness and future vaccination programs against specific HPV types in Pakistan to lessen the burden of HPV related HNSCC.